Best Thing for Auburn’s 5-Star Freshman QB Deuce Knight is Jackson Arnold

The Auburn Tigers made a complete overhaul of their quarterback room heading into the 2025 season. Head coach Hugh Freeze needs to get an immediate return on former Oklahoma Sooners transfer Jackson Arnold while developing five-star quarterback Deuce Knight.

Arnold’s sole mission on the Plains is to guide Auburn to victories and back to national prominence. The university compensated him well to start as the quarterback in the program’s resurgence.

Knight may have to wait his turn, but Arnold’s presence will prove to be a valuable resource to Knight.

Elevated Expectations

Arnold reportedly will receive upwards of $2.5 million to play at Auburn in 2025. With that money, comes a mandate of sorts. Those dollars became inextricably tied to winning. No moral victory or outstanding days in losing efforts. Rallying the Tigers just to fall short valiantly still counts as a loss.

To his credit, Hugh Freeze surrounded the quarterback with top-notch receivers that could potentially spread defenses out in a five-wide set. As a result, scoring points and successful trips down the field matter more than anything for the offense.

With the assumption that the defense can pin their ears back and wreak havoc, the onus falls upon Arnold. Meanwhile, while Knight does bring national acclaim to the field in the way of rankings, he was never expected to be an early contributor.

While Arnold absorbs all the pressure to succeed immediately, Knight can get up to speed at a smoother pace.

Watch and Learn

Knight’s broad athletic palette needs serious refinement. Picture it as installing a precise steering column into a sports car. Travelling fast in a straight line works, but how would you handle obstacles? Arnold’s game reps will help Knight’s off-game preparation.

Bottom Line

Deuce Knight will see his time at Auburn. In the meantime, Jackson Arnold looks to do all of the heavy lifting, making the team a consistent winner. The Tigers should score points by the bucket on offense. The strength of schedule does not matter.

Or at least it should not mean anything as the current roster looks like the most talent Auburn has had in years, especially at wideout. By biding his time, Deuce Knight can inherit the starting job and keep the progress going and create his own legacy.